Sept 21, Colombo: Fighting raged in the battlefronts of northern Sri Lanka yesterday killing at least 27 Tiger rebels and four soldiers, while the Air Force carried out multiple attacks today on LTTE locations, the military said. Another 24 LTTE cadres and 11 soldiers have been injured in the skirmishes.

Fierce fighting in Kilinochchi killed 9 Tigers in separate incidents. Three Army soldiers were killed and five others were wounded due to LTTE mortar attacks in Vannerikulam area while another soldier was killed in a confrontation in Panneikandamadu area.

Troops captured an LTTE bunker and a trench line in the Vavuniya area killing nine Tigers including two female cadres. In a subsequent search operation troops have recovered the bodies of the two female cadres along with their T-56 weapons.

Another nine Tigers were killed and fourteen were wounded in the Welioya battle front.

Casualty figures cannot be independently verified since no one other than security forces are allowed in the conflict areas.

Emboldened by the recent victories in the battlefields, the military is in a drive to evict the rebels from their last strongholds of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts before the end of the year.